Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is expected to propose an amendment next week to bankruptcy legislation which would bar anti-abortion extremists from escaping legal judgments by declaring bankruptcy. According to the Los Angeles Times, Randall Terry, founder of the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue, openly stated in 1998 that he was declaring bankruptcy in order to avoid […]
In a victory for women, the United States today withdrew a controversial amendment to a United Nations declaration reaffirming the UN Platform for Action on women’s rights. The amendment would have specified that in reaffirming the Platform for Action, no “new international human rights were created,” including the “right to abortion.” The US delegation to […]
Five of the six men sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for gang-raping a 30-year-old woman, Mukhtar Mai, were acquitted by a village council yesterday, angering the human rights community. The sixth man received a reduced sentence to life in prison, reports Reuters. In June 2002, a tribal council in a rural area of […]
Prominent women’s rights activists are increasingly being killed by Islamic extremists in Iraq. Twenty women have been killed in Mosul alone and a dozen more in Baghdad, reports Newsweek. As a result, women are living in fear, attendance by female students in school has declined, and more and more women are choosing to wear the […]
The US delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women today withdrew part of a controversial amendment but has so far still refused to reaffirm the Platform of Action on Women’s Rights. The amendment would have stated that no new right to abortion was created through the women’s rights platform, which was […]
Two clinics in Kansas are fighting attempts by Attorney General Phill Kline to subpoena unedited medical records of 90 women and girls who sought late-term abortions in 2003. Kline’s attempt to force the release of private medical files began in secret last fall, according to the Kansas City Star. “I find the potential to reveal […]
More than 300 Nigerian women living with injuries caused by fistula have been treated during the first week of the United Nations campaign entitled “Fistula Fortnight.” Twelve Nigerian doctors with four doctors from the US and United Kingdom have trained local doctors, nurses, and social workers to surgically repair and rehabilitate women who are suffering […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to consider the renomination of William Myers III for a seat on the Ninth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals. Myers was one of seven judicial nominees resubmitted by Bush after having been blocked by Democratic filibusters. Myers was blocked for being what the committee’s […]
The New Hampshire Attorney General filed a motion with the US Supreme Court Tuesday requesting review of two lower court rulings that struck down the state’s law (HB 763) requiring doctors to notify a parent or guardian of any minor seeking an abortion at least 48 hours before the procedure is performed. The law was […]
Leading women’s rights and human rights leaders are calling on the Bush Administration to reaffirm the historic women’s rights platform that is currently being reviewed at the United Nations. Ten years ago at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Platform of Action on Women’s Rights was signed by 189 countries. […]
A nationwide poll of voters has found that more than six in 10 voters believe the United States is ready for a female president. The poll, conducted by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by Hearst Newspapers, found that an even greater majority of 81 percent said they would vote for a woman for […]
In a press conference on Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced that he is not in support of proposed rule changes to limit the power of the Democratic minority in blocking radically conservative judicial nominees. Over the past several months, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has threatened to employ a “nuclear […]
The first post-Taliban parliamentary elections that were scheduled to take place in Afghanistan have been postponed due to security and logistical concerns. The elections scheduled to take place in May could be delayed by six months or more, reports BBC News. Joint presidential and parliamentary elections were originally scheduled to take place in June 2004. […]
On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe, to overturn the landmark case she won in 1973 that legalized abortion. The justices rejected McCorvey’s bid to reopen Roe v. Wade without comment or recorded dissent, reports Reuters. The move is not surprising, according to […]
Iraqi women are no better off now than they were under the rule of former dictator Saddam Hussein according to a report released on Monday by Amnesty International. Nearly two years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the report, “‘Iraq: Decades of Suffering,” asserts that although the brutal oppression of women under Hussein has ended, […]
A top United Nations official resigned his post after a report detailing a pattern of sexual harassment against his female employees was released by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services. According to the Washington Post, the investigation of Ruud Lubbers, the UN high commissioner for refugees, began in May 2004 after a woman […]
Governor Bill Taft (R) of Ohio signed a bill last week authorizing the sale of license plates imprinted with the message “Choose Life,” the proceeds of which will benefit non-profit groups that counsel pregnant women on adoption services. The groups would not be eligible to receive funds if they also gave referrals to abortion providers, […]
Nigerian women’s rights activists are advocating for a strengthening of the nation’s constitution by ensuring that 30 percent of all administrative, elective, and appointive positions of the government are reserved for women. According to the Nigerian newspaper the Daily Champion, women’s groups want to change the language of “He” in the constitution to read “He/She” […]
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday released the second annual survey of how the church is preventing and dealing with sexually abusive priests, reporting that they have received 1,092 new accusations of sexual abuse against clergy. The New York Times reports that the allegations were made against a total of 756 priests, […]
The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) first ever Afghanistan Human Development Report found that while the country has made progress since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan could easily fall back into chaos. According to the UNDP, the basic human needs of the Afghan people, including access to jobs, health, education, dignity, income, […]
